Dominators of the Year

Dominators of the Year
Based on performance against their peers, here are the
10 most accomplished players of 2008, ranked in order of supremacy
By Gary Van Sickle
No. 1 Ji-Yai Shin
LPGA, Korean LPGA
This 20-year-old phenom holds the top spot for the
second consecutive year. She won 10 tournaments (and
had 10 other top fives) in 30 starts on three tours. She won her first
major title, the British Women's Open, and was the first player to sweep
all three majors on the Korean tour. Shin also won the LPGA's season-
ending
ADT Championship and its &#36;1 million first prize. She has 26
victories in her nascent career and will officially join the LPGA in '09.

Dominators of the Year
Based on performance against their peers, here are the
10 most accomplished players of 2008, ranked in order of supremacy
By Gary Van Sickle
No. 1 Ji-Yai Shin
LPGA, Korean LPGA
This 20-year-old phenom holds the top spot for the
second consecutive year. She won 10 tournaments (and
had 10 other top fives) in 30 starts on three tours. She won her first
major title, the British Women's Open, and was the first player to sweep
all three majors on the Korean tour. Shin also won the LPGA's season-
ending
ADT Championship and its &#36;1 million first prize. She has 26
victories in her nascent career and will officially join the LPGA in '09.

No. 9 Jesse Mueller
Gateway tour
Mueller, 25, from Mesa, Ariz., stayed home and
mopped up in the Gateway's Desert Series, played in
the Phoenix area. In addition to winning four times, he had 12 other
top five finishes, made the cut in 25 of 26 starts and led the tour in
earnings with &#36;171,168. Mueller went 17 under par for 54 holes while
triumphing at Trilogy Golf Club and had closing 64s to win at Talking
Stick and Vista Verde.

No. 9 Jesse Mueller
Gateway tour
Mueller, 25, from Mesa, Ariz., stayed home and
mopped up in the Gateway's Desert Series, played in
the Phoenix area. In addition to winning four times, he had 12 other
top five finishes, made the cut in 25 of 26 starts and led the tour in
earnings with &#36;171,168. Mueller went 17 under par for 54 holes while
triumphing at Trilogy Golf Club and had closing 64s to win at Talking
Stick and Vista Verde.

No. 8 Zach Sucher
Alabama-Birmingham
A senior from Mobile, Sucher enjoyed an eightvictory
year. He successfully defended his Cardinal
Amateur title in Greensboro, N.C., shot a course-record
62 en route
to tying for first in the NCAA East Regional, won the Azalea
Amateur, was unbeaten in three matches in the U.S. vs. Japan
Championship in Tokyo and won four college events, including the
Conference USA Championship.

No. 8 Zach Sucher
Alabama-Birmingham
A senior from Mobile, Sucher enjoyed an eightvictory
year. He successfully defended his Cardinal
Amateur title in Greensboro, N.C., shot a course-record
62 en route
to tying for first in the NCAA East Regional, won the Azalea
Amateur, was unbeaten in three matches in the U.S. vs. Japan
Championship in Tokyo and won four college events, including the
Conference USA Championship.

No. 7 Gwladys Nocera
Ladies European tour
Nocera (far left) seems to prefer traveling for her trophies &#151; her
five wins came in Sweden, Scotland, Norway, the
Netherlands and Spain. Her final victory, at the Madrid Masters, vaulted
her into first place on the tour's money list with more than 384,000 euros.
Nocera,
33, a native of France who lives in Biarritz, had seven other
top 10 finishes this year and broke Laura Davies's 72-hole scoring record
when she won the Goteborg (Sweden) Masters with a 29-under 259.

No. 7 Gwladys Nocera
Ladies European tour
Nocera (far left) seems to prefer traveling for her trophies &#151; her
five wins came in Sweden, Scotland, Norway, the
Netherlands and Spain. Her final victory, at the Madrid Masters, vaulted
her into first place on the tour's money list with more than 384,000 euros.
Nocera,
33, a native of France who lives in Biarritz, had seven other
top 10 finishes this year and broke Laura Davies's 72-hole scoring record
when she won the Goteborg (Sweden) Masters with a 29-under 259.

No. 6 Mike Van Sickle
Marquette
Spare me the raised eyebrow. Yes, Mike is my son,
but the numbers don't lie. In 20 starts he won seven
times, finished among the top five on six other occasions and is the
fourth-ranked amateur in the world. Mike, a 21-year-old senior, capped
'08 with a closing 63 to win the Western Refining All-America Classic
against a select field of 26 All-Americas. Mike swept the Pennsylvania
Open and Amateur in '08 (a feat previously achieved only by Jay Sigel).

No. 6 Mike Van Sickle
Marquette
Spare me the raised eyebrow. Yes, Mike is my son,
but the numbers don't lie. In 20 starts he won seven
times, finished among the top five on six other occasions and is the
fourth-ranked amateur in the world. Mike, a 21-year-old senior, capped
'08 with a closing 63 to win the Western Refining All-America Classic
against a select field of 26 All-Americas. Mike swept the Pennsylvania
Open and Amateur in '08 (a feat previously achieved only by Jay Sigel).

No. 5 Danny Lee
New Zealand
Born in South Korea but now a citizen of New Zealand,
the 18-year-old Lee could be golf's Next Big Thing. A
four-time winner in '08, he made 13 birdies in 32 holes on Pinehurst's
formidable No. 2 course in his victorious U.S. Amateur final, won the
prestigious Western Amateur and had impressive showings in two pro
starts &#151; an 11th at the Australian Masters and a 20th at the PGA Tour's
Wyndham Championship.

No. 5 Danny Lee
New Zealand
Born in South Korea but now a citizen of New Zealand,
the 18-year-old Lee could be golf's Next Big Thing. A
four-time winner in '08, he made 13 birdies in 32 holes on Pinehurst's
formidable No. 2 course in his victorious U.S. Amateur final, won the
prestigious Western Amateur and had impressive showings in two pro
starts &#151; an 11th at the Australian Masters and a 20th at the PGA Tour's
Wyndham Championship.

No. 4 Vicky Hurst
Duramed Futures tour
Hurst's decision to forgo college and turn pro looks like a
good one after a five-win year. She toppled the Futures'
54-hole scoring record
while winning the Jalapeno Classic in McAllen,
Texas, with an 18-under-par 198, and passed Beth Bauer's single-season
earnings mark by winning &#36;93,107. Hurst, 18 and from Melbourne, Fla.,
finished among the top 10 in 10 of 14 starts. She made this list last year,
too, by dominating the American Junior Golf Association.

No. 4 Vicky Hurst
Duramed Futures tour
Hurst's decision to forgo college and turn pro looks like a
good one after a five-win year. She toppled the Futures'
54-hole scoring record
while winning the Jalapeno Classic in McAllen,
Texas, with an 18-under-par 198, and passed Beth Bauer's single-season
earnings mark by winning &#36;93,107. Hurst, 18 and from Melbourne, Fla.,
finished among the top 10 in 10 of 14 starts. She made this list last year,
too, by dominating the American Junior Golf Association.

No. 3 Lorena Ochoa
LPGA tour
Mexico's gift to golf owned the first half of the season,
winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship and just
about everything else &#151; she took six of her first nine starts by a
combined 38 strokes &#151; but after a pair of deaths in the family, Ochoa
lost her momentum and won only once more. Nevertheless, she
finished the season as the unrivaled queen of the LPGA, ranking first
in greens hit in regulation, driving distance, scoring and earnings.

No. 3 Lorena Ochoa
LPGA tour
Mexico's gift to golf owned the first half of the season,
winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship and just
about everything else &#151; she took six of her first nine starts by a
combined 38 strokes &#151; but after a pair of deaths in the family, Ochoa
lost her momentum and won only once more. Nevertheless, she
finished the season as the unrivaled queen of the LPGA, ranking first
in greens hit in regulation, driving distance, scoring and earnings.

No. 2 Tiger Woods
PGA Tour
You could call '08 the Year That Might Have Been
for Woods, except that his half year was sensational.
Surgery on his left knee ended Woods's season after his victory in
the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, where an array of amazing shots, a
Cinderella
rival in Rocco Mediate and painful microfractures
in the knee
made for an unforgettable major. Woods played seven times on a bum
leg and won at Bay Hill, Dubai, Torrey Pines (twice) and the Match Play.

No. 2 Tiger Woods
PGA Tour
You could call '08 the Year That Might Have Been
for Woods, except that his half year was sensational.
Surgery on his left knee ended Woods's season after his victory in
the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, where an array of amazing shots, a
Cinderella
rival in Rocco Mediate and painful microfractures
in the knee
made for an unforgettable major. Woods played seven times on a bum
leg and won at Bay Hill, Dubai, Torrey Pines (twice) and the Match Play.

No. 10 Amanda Blumenherst
Duke
Despite a minor slump this fall, Blumenherst, who is a
senior, remains a collegiate legend. This year she won
the Women's U.S. Amateur, led the U.S. team to victory against Great
Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup, and won a pair of college titles
in the spring, bringing her career total to 11. She accepted her second
consecutive Honda Award as collegiate player of the year during the
Blue Devils' football game last month against North Carolina State.&bull; Return to 2008 Year-in-Review Homepage

No. 10 Amanda Blumenherst
Duke
Despite a minor slump this fall, Blumenherst, who is a
senior, remains a collegiate legend. This year she won
the Women's U.S. Amateur, led the U.S. team to victory against Great
Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup, and won a pair of college titles
in the spring, bringing her career total to 11. She accepted her second
consecutive Honda Award as collegiate player of the year during the
Blue Devils' football game last month against North Carolina State.&bull; Return to 2008 Year-in-Review Homepage

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